Posted on 03/04/2014 1:07:05 PM PST by massmike
On Wednesday, Feb. 12, pro-life activist Peter D'Attilio was convicted by a jury on three charges stemming from an incident when he held a pro-life sign in front of a school in Brockton, Mass. on March 21, 2012. After a two-day trial in Brockton District Court, the six-person jury found him guilty of disturbing a school, trespass, and resisting arrest.
Those verdicts came despite the fact that Peter's lawyer (using testimony by the prosecution's own witnesses) clearly proved that he did not commit any of those crimes. This was a monumental miscarriage of justice. In the end, the facts and evidence mattered very little.
Seemingly everything in this trial was stacked against him: (1) A hostile judge who was new to the bench. (2) A jury that appeared to be made up of several people who were strongly pro-abortion. (3) A young prosecutor who largely ignored the facts and focused on demonizing Peter personally in the eyes of the jury. And (4) a police report with blatant untruths.
In our opinion, it seemed this was meant to send a strong message to pro-life activists. By local standards, this was a "nuisance" case that would normally never have gone forward. In Brockton there is a backlog of actual violent crimes. And this one, on its face, had no substance. It did not involve injury, damage, theft, etc., but was more political in nature. Nevertheless, neither the judge nor the District Attorney's office would relent.
Peter D'Attilio is a pro-life hero in Massachusetts. He is a religious Catholic who runs a pro-life ministry called "Defenders of Women." Its mission is to educate high school and college students about the true nature of abortion, versus what Planned Parenthood tells them in school. He usually carries a sign with diagrams about a baby in the womb, and passes out bookmark-like pamphlets.
Unfortunately, he has been viciously harassed and even beaten up by local police who don't like his message.
There would be a massive difference between being judge and being a assistant prosecutor. She may well turn out to be an awesome judge but it seems, if the report is correct, that she should have made sure the jury got to see the sign. The Police officer referred directly to the sign and it’s content so when asked for it to be shown it should have been. It would have shown the Police Officer to be unreliable. There is no way to tell from a transcript whether the jury actually saw the front of the sign when it was displayed so as to show it’s size. There are some things that transcripts do not tell.
...so does your Secretary of State.
All true, what you say. I have no quarrel.
The tone of the article, and knowledge of the character of the presiding judge, give me reason to restrain personal judgment.
I would rather the narrator stick to the facts....provide at least some evidentiary support......and let the truth speak for itself without ‘help’. :^)
I have attending trials for near 30 years. The article doesn’t ring of truth, in light of my experience. Cindy Brackett would never allow, nor involve herself as conspirator, in a trial as perverse as that described. I’ve seen some bad stuff. But this is just over the top hard to believe.
Without more....I reserve the right to believe the defendant is overzealous...beyond constitutional protection in his acts....or a real nutjob who adopted a cause to bless his lightweight violent proclivities.
I simply wish to advocate for truth.
If you want to be on a jury, give only a MINIMAL amount of information when answering their questions. Remember, the more you say, the more chance there is that one side will not like something you say.
Of course, if you don’t want to be on a jury, then you should sing like a bird.
One other thing strikes me: where was his representation from, say, ACLJ...or like group. I would think this case would have been picked up. No?
And I find it hard to believe that no one contacted one. Or easy to believe the guy is not held in much esteem by advocates who have associated with him.....so the let him swing.
The whole camera thing seems so 80’s when you. can record on the fly with a wifi enabled device or your phone and using an appropriate “App” instantly upload imagery or video to a remote site, preserving evidence for posterity or your defense.
I know I’ve considered getting some of the apps and subscribing to a storage site for that reason alone.
“Destroyed muh Phone. FU....”
“Here’s something for you to contemplate as part of discovery, while I work out a number for settlement on the civil case”.
Too bad, So sad, Buy bye....
Frickin twinkle toad, cinderella.....
Allow me this anecdote:
My wife once volunteered to assist a group of disabled persons who took issue with a restaurant’s ‘no dogs allowed’ policy. A person accompanied by a helper-dog of some sort was directed to leave by a clueless employee.
The group assembled with signage and chant at the entrance of the place...off a unlimited access state highway. Folks in wheelchairs began to roll themselves righteously into the travel lanes......speed limit 50...on a blind approach. There are rational limits, often ignored in the pursuit of justice, by inflamed passion.
Sometimes a typo still fits :)
Fair enough too. Your point is well taken about the sometimes over inflamed passions of crusaders for a cause.
Court proceedings aside it is no wonder that people do get inflamed passions when they can see Union thugs commit similar offenses and worse and the police turn a blind eye to it. That being said I have been embarrassed too many times to take sides in a story written by a group for it’s own purposes.
Cheers
Mel
Can he appeal?
Freepmail little jeremiah
or Responsibility2nd to subscribe or unsubscribe from the moral absolutes ping list. [ Add keyword moral absolutes to flag FR articles to this ping list ]Some discussion on the thread as to the veracity of the arrest situation, but massmike's two articles look accurate to me.
Please clarify what it is that you disagree with on the reporting of this event that happened.
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